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Nearly half of all rural counties have now reported cases of COVID-19, according to the latest data released by USA Facts, a non-profit news site that is tracking the spread of the disease.
Since the Yonder reported Friday on the spread of the virus, an additional 176 rural counties have recorded COVID-19 cases. As of Sunday, 941 out of 1,977 rural counties have confirmed cases of the disease that is spreading across the nation.
The map above shows the rural counties reporting their first cases over the weekend in red. Mustard colored counties are rural with cases reported before Friday. Rural counties in green have no reported COVID-19 cases.
Almost every metro county reports having a COVID-19 case. Out of 1,164 metropolitan counties, only 153 had no reported COVID-19 cases as of the end of Sunday. Those counties are in black on the map. The gray counties are in metro regions and have confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Both rural and urban counties showed the same steady increase in reported cases over the weekend. From Friday to Sunday, cases of COVID-19 increased in both rural and urban counties by between 41 and 50 percent.
Note: This story defines “rural” as counties that lie outside a metropolitan statistical area or MSA. Nonmetropolitan counties have no cities of 50,000 residents or larger and do not have strong economic ties to a nearby county that does have a city of 50,000 or greater.